Executions on decline in Texas, nation

By Keri Blakinger, Houston Chronicle

July 4, 2017Updated: July 4, 2017 9:06pm

Photo: DAVID J. PHILLIP, Staff / Associated Press

The "death bed" in the death chamber is separated by bars, foreground, from the witness viewing room at the Walls Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville, Texas, in this January 25, 1995 photo. After a record 19 lethal injections in 1995, Texas has carried out just two in 1996. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

The "death bed" in the death chamber is separated by bars,...

The death penalty is on the downswing — not just in Texas, but nationwide.

A midyear review by the Death Penalty Information Center found that the use of capital punishment is likely to hover near historic lows in 2017, with 13 executions — four in Texas — completed and 12 more slated to occur.

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Even the Lone Star State, which has typically been a heavy user of capital punishment, has seen a long-term drop in executions. In 2016, the state executed the fewest inmates it had in two decades, as the Chronicle reported in December.

“The numbers show that the long-term historic decline in the use of the death penalty in the U.S. appears to be continuing,” said Robert Dunham, DPIC executive director.

Some of the factors at play in the changing trend could include legal uncertainties, moratoriums and death penalty drug shortages.

On top of those logistical issues, public opinion has slowly shifted away from executions. A Pew Research Survey in 2016 found that support for the death penalty had fallen below 50 percent for the first time in almost half a century.

“People feel much more comfortable with that alternative because if you make a mistake, you can fix it later,” ACLU senior staff attorney Brian Stull said last year. “That is certainly lurking in the background.”

But the current dip may not be record-setting; as of now, 2017 execution figures look to be slightly above the 26-year-low seen in 2016. But, that could change depending on whether Ohio is able to carry out the five executions scheduled between now and December.

But even though Texas has witnessed a marked decrease in the use of capital punishment, it’s still near the head of the pack for the remainder of the year, with five executions scheduled for the second half of 2017.

Recent changes in Florida and Alabama have had an impact on nationwide death penalty numbers. Both states’ legislatures repealed parts of their death penalty statutes. While Florida — with a push from the courts — eliminated the use of nonunanimous jury verdicts for death sentences, Alabama repealed the portion of its law that allowed judges to override juries on life sentence recommendations, Dunham said.

“We have to add on top of that that fewer counties are pursuing the death penalty, period, and the counties in which prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty are pursuing it less frequently and are obtaining death verdicts even less frequently than that,” he said.

As a result, it’s possible 2017 could see a new low in death sentences handed out. So far, states have doled out 16 death sentences. Last year saw 31 by the end of the year.

“When it comes to the number of executions, the key number is actually that longer-term trends remain intact,” Dunham said. “Three-year and five-year execution trends continue to go downward. Historically, executions continue to decline and when we look at the long-term picture, 2017 will continue that historic decline.”